North American Youth Chess Championship

Changed my match strategy to play for a win in every game. This sort of worked as I did get a lot of winning/better positions. Unfortunetely, it revealed my weaknesses in tactics and endgames. Worst of all was time pressure, which really messed me up in a lot of games.

Game 1: Tony Lin 2230

Everything was good until I blundered my rook.

Game 2: Owen Qian

Better endgame, hung a piece. Do not know why I did it. Still dont know.

Game 3: Robert Li 1791

The whole game I build up a winning advantage being up 3 pawns. Suddenly, during tie pressure, my opponent shows his pro blitz skills and trolling abilities. Take lessons from this guy. When in a losing position, just keep setting traps and offering your opponent draws to mess up their concentration.

Game 4: Lan Qian 1550

This guy is extremely underrated since he managed to defeat both Kajan (1805) and Kuhan (1780) and ended with a score of at least 4.5. Still, I would have won had I known basic endgames.

Game 5: Kajan T. 1820

My opponent plays an umambitious setup in the caro kann. After overpressing and nearly losing after an inaccuracy, the game fizzles into a draw.

Game 6: Satya 1200

Finally, they decide I need a free point. Still, this opponent played reasonably well until around move 16.

Game 7: Joe M. 1600

He`s actually 871 but considering he drew a 1900 and a 1800 player, its fair to say that he`s at least 1600 strength.

Game 8: Andrew Ding 2231

Probably the only game in this entire tournament that I should have lost. No ridiculous blunders/misplaying in time pressure/bad endgames to blame here. I played an outdated opening and quickly got ground down.

Game 9: Jeevan Karamsetty 2091

The nightmare finish. Completely winning in the opening only to blunder the piece like an idiot. Afterwards, I really didn't put up any serious resistance.